{Handmade Boatneck!}

Here's what I love best about sewing, and specifically sewing without a pattern: it's like a puzzle, but better. For instance, I'm not a sudoku player, but I know they're out there. There's great satisfaction in figuring out how pieces come together to completion. While a sudoku player (or crossword puzzler, etc) has to finish their puzzle and leave it on the page or their little hand-held gaming machine, I get to put the things I sew to good use. It's probably pretty unlikely that a sudoku-er would pin his puzzle to his chest, and as people pass by that they would say, "Hey--NICE sudoku, man!" to which the puzzler could reply, "Thanks, I did it myself."

BUT the awesome thing about sewing is that I can finish my puzzle, pull it over my head and hear compliments on it. And THEN I get the satisfaction of saying , "Thanks, I MADE it!"

Lately, I've had this hankering to own a striped boatneck tee--nothing says summer like the nautical blue and white of a clean boatneck tee. The one I recently saw that I really like best is this one:

BUT, it also comes from Nordstrom's with a $225 price tag! {That's right--I said $225 DOLLARS}

So obviously, I've been living without.

Until I walked into a local thrift shop and came across two and half yards of nautical blue and white striped knit for ONE dollar. {That's right--just one!} So I decided I'd put my problem solving skills to good use and try my hand at a boatneck tee. It isn't perfect, but I learned a lot, and I think it's awfully cute and summery, even with its imperfections. And it cost me 225 times less than the one I was thinking of.

{Photos courtesy of the Mister}

{Am I too cool for school, or what? Oh, and I got a haircut...now I'm awesome.}

{Not perfect, but already, I know I heard a couple people remark, "Wow, nice Sudoku..."}

Who doesn't love a striped boatneck tee?